


The Voyeur Box

by StoryQueen



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: (... later on), Adventure, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Attack, Castles, Charity Shop, Coming Out, Depressed Niall, Depression, Exploring, F/M, Fights, Friends to Lovers, Hide and Seek, Hiding, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mild Threat, Minor Violence, Money, Mystery, Naked Cuddling, Nellie - Freeform, Night, Nudity, Pan Harry, Pansexual Character, Pansexual Harry, Play Fighting, Secrets, Student Ellie, Student Harry, Student Liam, Student Louis, Student Niall, Student Zayn, Students, Suspense, Vegan Harry, Vegetarians & Vegans, Workplace, larry stylinson - Freeform, more tags with new chapters, naked harry, student nick, ziam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-13 23:35:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5721274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoryQueen/pseuds/StoryQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(WIP: This is going to be a long chaptered story. Tags will be updated with new chapters.)</p><p> </p><p>  <b>UPDATED: 19/1</b></p><p> </p><p>A Horror-Thriller with a side of Romance, University AU.</p><p>It's peculiar, the things we find when we're not looking. We discover so much beneath the dust, the remains of a long, lost story, a treasure once held dear, but all that is left is an echo, a hollow memories, a spectator to possess over the the shell left behind. Surely, something, somewhere, some good could come out of this. Glancing up into the mirror, I catch myself smirking. <i>Huh</i>, Impossible.</p><p>(Simpler Version: Harry finds a box, and strange things start happening. Plus some Larry for good measure...)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Discover

**Author's Note:**

> WORK SERIOUSLY STILL IN PROGRESS!!!
> 
> So, this is a Horror-Thriller book with a splice of romance, so if you're here for Larry, then hold on tight; that'll happen later. I started writing this as a non-fic, with original characters, but they seemed too much like 1D (a sub-conscious mistake) so I changed the names and made it a fic. I don't know how long this fic will be, probably about 30 chapters or so, depends on how well it goes I guess.
> 
> And Niall's dating Ellie in this. I don't really ship them in real life, but Ellie is pretty rad, so I just included her as a character. Might include more fandoms (Radio 1, 5SOS, etc) with new chapters...  
>  
> 
> **Also, if, when you're reading, you think of cool ideas, plot twists or theories of what could happen, then please comment them and I'll see if I can make some of them come true. I'll leave questions at the end of each chapter for you to answer, to see which direction this fic should go in. I want you guys to have a say in this :)**
> 
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> 
>  
> 
> _And before you comment about the title, the word 'voyeur' doesn't necessarily mean sexual. As a Media Studies student, we were taught that the word voyeur means "to be watched without your permission/to be spied on," where as 'scopophilia' is the sexualised version of voyeurism. So no, no sexualised voyeurism... Just had to say that..._
> 
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> Thank you all so much for reading!

**NOTE: Please quickly read the note at the top of this page. Thank you! :)**

 

**Chapter One: Discover**

 

It's kind of a mystery, a paradox of unanswered questions, and just the sheer thought of trying to explain it from any other point of view is beyond my physical ability, so I'll just give it to you straight. There's a box, a sort of miniature chest, a loaf of bread size, mahogany is colour yet seemingly more oak, heavy, engraved with the marks, swirls, dots, lines, all centred around a crest, a symbol, a picture that means something, anything, yet fails to deliver. It's locked.

It was found in the university's attic. An unusual place to find it, I know, but given that the entrance to the attic had been sealed many years prior to it's reopening, I'm not too sure whether it was all that mistakenly placed after all. It was found accidental, of course.

Even at 21, hide and seek is still the greatest game in the world. You discover so much while playing, whether it be the perfect place to hide if you were ever stalked by a mass murderer, or finding out that you're not as flexible as you remembered. It also made you discover the fear, the pent-up terror that has naturally thawed to a distant childhood nightmare by the safety of the crumbling facility's bricks and the sarcastic humour of the staff, and this bubble of normality, popped, gone, drives you past the point of paranoia, where every stoned footstep, every boarded creak, every giggle of anxiety, every echoing breath could lead to the end.

For a childish game, it certainly brought out the twisted side of us. It was Louis who suggested it, the rule change, fuelled up on his and Zayn's video game marathon the night before, a pocket knife stored neatly under his sleeve, a morbid whisper of mockery, "If I find you, I have to cut you."

"You can't do that, Louis," Liam gasped.

Louis laughed, the harm brushed aside, and he winked at Liam with a chuckle. "Guess you're gonna have to win, then."

I pushed myself off the wall with a sigh. "Are you serious, Lou?"

"About the game or the punishment?"

"Both."

Louis sighed and nudged my arm with his shoulder. "Of course we're gonna play hide and seek. _Come on_ , it's our last year here and we've only ever really discovered the Hall of Media. The main hall is _500 years old_ ," Louis declared, waving his arms out and hitting Nial in the neck, "We have so much left to discover."

Zayn mumbled, "And the knife?"

"Yeah, please don't _actually_ cut us," Niall said with a grimace, "Me girlfriend's still babying me since I got depressed. Don't want her thinkin' I've took a bad turn."

Ignoring Louis' declaration of _"it'll be fun"_ speech that pursued, I placed a hand on Niall's shoulder, a small side-smile, a nod, and I smiled to myself when seeing the light in his eyes that had returned two weeks prior. Depression was ruthless towards the innocent.

"Louis, I'm not sure," Liam said, rubbing the back of his head and he leaned sideways out of the glaring sun that was limitedly lighting Louis' room.

" _Come on_." Louis knelt on the bed, legs either side of Liam's, and I presume his played the _'puppy eyes'_ card, because Liam sighed and gently pushed him into Zayn's lap.

"Lou, _really_?"

Louis smiled in triumph. He stood up, walked past Niall and I and opened the door. "Get your arses out of my room and find somewhere to hide, _motherfuckers_! I'll give you half an hour to find somewhere."

We made our way towards the door, Zayn stopping to ask, "Is there an overall time frame? Like, after 5 hours you have to give up and whoever's left has won?"

Louis thought for a second. "Ten o'clock tonight." It was three-thirty now. "If I can't find you by ten o'clock, then fair enough; you win."

Louis, after winking at us with an evil smirk on his lips, closed his bedroom door, leaving us in the hallway to hide. We looked at each other, the threat of bodily harm looming over us, and although Louis wouldn't do anything stupid, would probably only scratch us enough for the blood loss of a paper cut, we knew, accidents happens, _Louis-related accidents happen_ , and at once we all looked at our watches and phones, counting the hours until ten, and we shared a sigh of hope. We _could_ hide. We _could_ outsmart Louis.

Liam was the first to leave, running ahead, probably wanting to hide without us seeing, just in case we snitched to Louis and told the maniac where he was hiding. As if we'd do that. But at that, the thought occurred, would the others do that to me, and with that I follow Liam, out of the dorms and onto the campus street, heading in the opposite direction to Liam, who was heading towards the Sports Hall, and instead went towards the Main Hall. Although Louis mentioned it earlier, and it'd probably be the first place he'd look, he was right: the place was 500 years old, castle-like, rumoured to make secret passage-ways and underground tunnels to the abandoned farm mill a mile off campus. Although it would be obvious, Louis was just as unknowledgeable as me about the building, so it was a 50/50 chance.

It took me ten minutes to walk there, walking around the campus lake and quickly saying hi to Ellie, Niall's girlfriend ( _"Yeah, Ellie, he's doing fine_ ; _don't worry_!) The Main Hall stood tall, maybe four floors, but castles always had tall ceilings, so maybe it was three. Light bricks, big, thick, heavy, protective, with thin lines of glass mirroring each other either side of the pillared archway that sat on top of the pedestal of stone steps. Above, like a bindi, lay a crest, a shield, flat-topped, spaded bottom, quartered, blue and red, two duos of lions, crowned, a nose of a pillow with starry eyes, and three hay bales. It was the symbol of the university, the founder, a man from the 1500s, a _great_ man with ambition, for education to be available for everyone, or so the current Principle says so.

Inside sat a handful of students, blank faces sunk into books, in huddles of sofas with a warm fire burning along the wall in front of me. It was the start of Autumn, no need for the fire, but it brought about light that the windows failed to provide, and it gave the chilly atmosphere of the ancient building some warmth to it, a homey feeling. I gravitated towards it, no heads turning in my direction, and I took a turn to the right, following the shadows up the spiral stone staircase. There was a sign directing the stairs to the English Language block, which surprised me that Zayn had never been in this building, instead taking his English Literature lessons in the Media Hall, but as I got to the top of the stairs I could see why Zayn would prefer the newer building.

It was cold, I noticed before I even turned he corner, and the hallway I entered contained a dead fire, smaller than the one below me, accompanied by a hurst of sofas, crummy, old things, falling apart. The wallpaper not plastered but stacked, shelves of books poorly decorating the walls with the off-shade of discoloured reds and greys, a hue of yellow from the collective dust that soaked into the pages. In fact, it was quite dusty overall in the hallway. The light through the crack of the window shone a beam of hung crystals, like a delicate snowfall of needles, too precarious to just walk through, and as I made my way from this abandoned book cove towards the collection of hollow classrooms, I clung to the wall to avoid touching the light.

There were lessons in the classrooms, or at least one of the classes held a lesson, as a voice echoed through the draught-creaking wooden door and bounced down the hallway. I walked past as quick as I could, avoiding attention. My watch read ten-to-four; I had ten minutes before the _monster_ was let out. He probably had cheated and was already on his way up here.

There was another staircase at the end of the corridor, a chain-linked barrier commanding, _"No Student Access"_ , and as tempting as it was, Louis would spot it and instantly go up, so it was probably best that I didn't even try. Down another corridor, through more curtains of illuminated freckles was a door. A fairishly new door, sticking out in contrast to the stone walls around it, and the window at the top shows the spiral staircase beyond. Knowing Louis, the forbidden staircase would be satisfying enough, and after that he'd probably turn around to direct his search elsewhere. Although this room was obvious, I was hoping for the best. The time was slowly ticking towards four o'clock, and I really didn't want Louis to find me before I had even hidden.

The door was locked, which at first annoyed me enough for me to kick it, but after a minute to wiggling the handle, the bold came loose, which was weird for a newer door, but it was only new in comparison to the 500 year old building. The door itself might have been 400 years old, for all I knew. It was enough to squeeze the door open, the bold screeching against the metallic plate bolted to the frame, and I stepped inside, closing the door behind me, hearing the bolt _click_ back into place. I jump at the thought of being trapped in here, in this small stairwell which led to seemingly nowhere as I looked up, but there was probably a way out, either through another wiggle or through firemen, which _God help me_ if that's the case, but with an 80% battery life left on my phone, I stopped worrying and started walking upstairs.

It was quiet. My feet created sound-waves as they patted on the stone, the scrape of rubbed against the bricks, the creak of plaster under my weight. The window every 360 **°** s catching a glimpse outside, higher and higher each turn, a zoetrope of the lake and students, teleporting a distance with each passing window. There was no other platform to the floors, only from the first floor to where I stopped on the third floor.

The door at the top of the stairs opened with ease to reveal a darkened opening. A slither of dimmed light revealed a corner of a crate, which was enough for me to assume that this was a storage room. I got my phone out of my pocket and turned the torch on. I was right. The room contained about ten wooden crates, some opened, but nothing but pieces of timber inside when looking from a distance. I made my way over to the window, avoiding the loose planks of wood that lay scattered across the floor. Pulling the curtains back slightly, coughing at the dust that clouded the air around me, I let the light flood the room, which seemed to reject it like a disease, an infection of their vampiric normality, but ignoring the protest of this unused room I crossed back and sat down on the edge of one of the crates.

This would do.


	2. Thriller

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _'i c u'_
> 
>  
> 
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> 
> Ooh, things are about to get tense...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Fun Fact: Their University Courses;  
> **  
>  -Louis: BA (Hons) Drama.  
> \- Zayn: BA (Hons) English Literature.  
> \- Liam: BA (Hons) Media, Music and Sound.  
> \- Niall: BA (Hons) Music Production.  
> \- Harry: BA (Hons) Photography.  
> They all (minus Harry) took a year placement, and Louis had a gap year before starting uni, hence why they're Zayn, Liam and Niall are 22, Louis is 23 and Harry's 21, and they are all in their final year of uni at the same time.

**Chapter Two: Thriller**

 

There was a spider, an abseiler, dangling mid-air, a canyon below with a tightrope above. It swung, graceful, spindly locking onto the wall of the crate. It tied its rope before walking back to the cross-wire before doing it all again. Harry watched, the sparkle of dying sunlight twinkling the web. The spider worked hard to build its home. It ran back and too, building walls, securing cross sections, quickly, skillfully, with precision and accuracy that Harry envied. Harry wished it was that easy to find home.

 

He'd be moving out soon. He's be moving from university when July rolled by. It was months away, the end of September rolling in quickly, but Harry was worried. Paying for this dorm room was hard enough. He was just glad he had Louis and Nick to help pay the rent. It was expensive for non-first year's to stay on campus. But afterwards, when Louis has moved to the West End for his stage acting career, and Nick has moved to Greater London to be near the Radio 1 studio, what would Harry do? They had places to go, but Harry...

 

Harry opened his phone for the fifth-hundredth time. It was only eight o'clock. He sighed. Waiting another two hours in this dusty, old attic was hardly worth it. But there again, Louis had kept his word about the cutting.

 

At half five, Niall had texted him:

 

From Niall: _'Shit , he was right ! Fuckin hurts !'_

 

At quarter to six, Liam texted:

 

From Liam: _'Run run from that monster! x'_

 

And Zayn texted at half seven:

 

From Zayn: _'He just walked right past me! Can u distract him so he'll go away? Where r u?'_

 

From Harry: _'Secret. Where are you?'_

 

From Zayn: _'Also secret >:) He won't stop txting me'_

 

Which was true. Louis had been texting Harry, and apparently the others, random rambles and taunts. He was probably doing it to listen for ring tones or vibrations, or even to see phone screens light up. Harry was temped to turn his phone off, but as the only source of time, boredom cure and communication, he didn't want to risk dying of boredom.

 

It was darkening outside, the sun fading beyond the Sports Hall on the horizon. Harry lay down in the dusty floor. He was tired, tired of this shit, but he couldn't give up. He stared out of the window from across the room. Birds flew past the window heading back to their nests. Harry wished he was in bed.

 

Louis texted:

 

From Louis: _'hey , whr r u ?'_

 

Harry chuckled.

 

From Harry: _'Not telling.'_

 

From Louis: _'i c u .'_

 

Harry froze a second, but then chuckled. No one could see him up there. He wasn't close to the window, nor was their any other way to see into the room, apart from through the door, and there's no way Louis was outside. His footsteps would have echoed up the stairs.

 

From Harry: _'No, you don't.'_

 

From Louis: _'how did u git ^ ther?'_

 

Harry froze again. Wait. Did Louis know where he was?

 

From Harry: _'Up where?'_

 

From Louis: _'top floor of main hall.'_

 

Harry sat up. He listened. He couldn't hear any breathing, he couldn't hear any footsteps. He couldn't hear anyone else. He was alone-- he knew he was alone-- yet Louis' messages made the room seem all the more haunted.

 

From Harry: _'Liar. I'm not there!'_

 

Harry chuckled. It was a coincidence. Louis took a jab in the dark and somehow guessed he was up there.

 

From Louis: _'its not d stairs w/ d out of bounds sgn. it leads 2 old science blok.'_

 

Louis was in the Main Hall? He had already went up the 'out of bounds' stairs? Harry ran to the curtains and closed them, the rest of the light in the room dying. He ran his hand along the wall, shuffling his feet, finding his way back to the boxes piled in the corner. Sliding behind them, holding his breath to squeeze in place, he covered his head, closing his eyes, trying to ignore the vibrations in his pocket. He took his phone out again.

 

From Louis: _'wiggle'_

 

Shit. It was closing in. The thought crossed his mind that if Louis was wrong, if Harry was hiding somewhere else, it would have been quite amusing, getting the simple text _'wiggle'_ , which could have meant anything suggestive to Harry, but the knowledge of the fault bolted door beneath him, the one, right now, he could hear being swung open, made his head seize up in fear, a wave of chill running through his veins, and his scrunched up his eyes, like a child hiding under his duvet, waiting for Louis to enter the room.

 

He spared his phone one last glance as he read the last of Louis' text messages.

 

From Louis: _'ur fone lit ^ r%m. shud hav closd curtains'_

 

Harry shut his phone off, keeping it clasped in his hands tightly. The footsteps outside grew louder, thudding, thundering, deliberate. The door creaked open slowly, Louis' breath echoing into the room, Vader-like, long, jointed, victorious. Harry held his breath in return.

 

Louis chuckled, at his own cleverness, no doubt, too caught up in the suspense of the hunt. He covered it up with his hand, the muffle coming out more as an animistic growl than human, and he breathed in with force to emphasise his presence. "Harold," he whispered with intent. Harry kept still. "Harold, I know you're in here."

 

Louis' foot entered the room. His phone lit up the room above Harry, the torch shining across to scan for him, turning behind the door as Louis checked, expecting Harry to surprise attack him. Harry damned himself; he should have hid behind the door and ran to escape when Louis was in the room.

 

Louis paced up and down the room, slowly, like a tiger trapped in a cage, a bounce of excitement every few steps. He knew he was winning, he knew Harry would snap eventually. Louis knew he was here. Harry knew that Louis knew. Harry tried to stop breathing, tried to stop his heart from beating so loud. Even swallowing the saliva that was ever-moisturising his dry throat hurt to hear.

 

Louis stopped next to the pile of crates. He stopped with a sudden, tapping his toes, no doubt a smirk across his face. The light casting on the wall behind Harry grew brighter, the torch moving across the top of the crates, looking down, above him. He could see Louis' hand holding the phone stretched out, another hand slowly crossing the horizon, behind the blind of the light, a glint, a shimmer, the flash of metal.

 

"Harold..."

 

Harry reached up suddenly, pulling the phone out of Louis' hands. It topped to the floor next to him, shining upwards. Louis groaned, blinded by the light suddenly shining in his face. Harry jumped up, running past the crates, past Louis, past the knife, towards the door. He hit the door, hands fumbling, grasping the knob, but hands grasped him, pulling back, tugging towards, centre roomed, faced off, and he ducked, Louis' hand overhead. He pulled out of Louis' fingers, running back towards the crates. Louis was behind him, cornered him, and his back hit the tower as they tumbled down, the light covered. In the dark, Harry pushed off the crates towards the door, hearing Louis stagger to his feet. He reached out in the dark, his fingers brushed the door when a hand grabbed his ankle, tugged back, face on the floor. He was dragged back, scratching the wooden beams below, pulling away from Louis, screaming.

 

"Harry! Give up!" Louis screamed, panted, and Harry kicked, fought back. He felt a sudden pressure on his shoe, the knife, pressing sharply into the leather of his boots. That bastard; he was serious.

 

"Fuck off, Louis!" he screamed in return, another kick, the knife across the floor, and Louis let go to retrieve his weapon. Harry got up, falling into the wall, but the door was gone. Which wall was this? He felt along, shuffling, panting, crying, trying to be quiet. Louis' footsteps stormed towards him, and his fingers brushed the door frame. There was a thud above his hand, and Louis had his arms either side of him. Harry turned towards him, pushing out. Louis stumbled back, but his hands found Harry's pinning them to the wall next to the door.

 

"Give up, Styles!" Louis panted into Harry's face. Harry squinted, turning to looking away from Louis into the darkness, letting the tears drop off his chin. His clenched his fists, let out a scream before pushing his hands, pushing Louis away, back into the centre of the room, and as Louis clung on tight, forcing back, Harry wished, hoped, prayed for a miracle, and suddenly Louis was hitting a wall, sudden force impact, and there was a sudden sound of cracking, plaster falling, and Louis' weight fall backwards through the wall, pulling Harry down with him.

 

Plaster landed on Harry's back, and God did that hurt. He lay between Louis' legs, giving himself a second to realise what just happened. There was a sudden light, not the darkness of before but more of a twilight, a darkened glow that let objects identify themselves as more than just blurs of black. Looking through the grey fog of plaster dust, Harry sat up, looking around. It was a room, a room that had no door, the only entrance being the hole the two had just fallen through.

 

Louis pushed Harry off him, sitting up to look as well. "What's this?"

 

Harry reached into his pocket and drew out his own phone, turning on the torch, just to give the two of them more light to clarify that they were seeing things correctly. There was stacks of chairs, all very old, ancient, hand caved, engraved. Beyond lay a table, the same designs yet was pedestaled like a shrine, black oak. Pictures lay against the wall, faded by time, yet houses faces, staring into the distance, dead, longing looks. Maids, princes, kings and queens of old.

 

Harry was speechless. It was a treasure trove of unfound history, precious artifacts, historic, museum worthy. He chuckled, smiling.

 

"Well, this is worth a fortune," Louis laughed, kneeling behind Harry. Harry whacked his arm. The panic of the play fight ceased to be on their minds, Louis' knife lay lost in the rubble of the wall.

 

Harry turned to look at Louis, who strangely had a black eye, which he assumed one of the boys must have given him in return for cutting them. "We need to tell someone."

 

"No we don't." The room wasn't tall enough to stand up in-- the table barely scraped the ceiling-- but Harry thought Louis would have stood up in outrage as he spoke. "We don't have to tell anyone," Louis placed a finger on Harry's lips to emphasise, "it can be our little secret." Louis looked at the hole they fell through. "It's gonna be hard getting them out of here."

 

"Louis, just leave them here," Harry said.

 

Louis grasped Harry's shoulders, "But think of the money, Harold! We're gonna be rich."

 

"Shouldn't the uni get the money?"

 

Louis playfully slapped Harry's cheek. "Don't be a silly goose, Harold. We're uni students; we need the money more than this place."

 

Louis was right. Although Harry hated to admit it, the money was really tempting. Maybe they could take back a few small things and tell the faculty about the bigger pieces of furniture. After all, these probably dated back to the 1500s; things like this were worth millions.

 

Louis knee-waded across to where the table lay. There were a few bits and bobs on one of the little shelves by the legs. He pushed aside the pile of papers, reaching behind to pull out a box. He tossed it behind him to Harry. "See what's inside that. I think there's a chest, or something, behind here."

 

Harry picked up the box, undamaged from the fall, and caressed it in his hands. It was covered in dust, but he could still make out the patterns below. He ran his fingers over a swirl, following the lines around until it connected to where a lion slept. He smiled, thought about blowing the dust off, but thought against it, due to the confined spade, and he didn't want to add to the difficulty of breathing in all the plaster particles, so reached down to the lid. He pulled it upwards, and nothing happened.

 

"I think it's locked," he said, not looking up to where Louis was throwing all sorts of paper and clothes around.

 

"It's not locked. It's probably just stuck." Louis turned around and whipped it out of Harry's hands. "Give it 'ere." Louis tried as well, pulling faces as he tried to wedge the lid from the box. He gave up after a few attempts, mumbling about how he was getting splinters from it.

 

Harry took the box back and tucked it under his arm. "Find anything else interesting?"

 

Louis mumbled, "No, not really." Louis looked at his watch. "We should get back. I'm making tea."

 

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, I don't think Nick has quite forgiven you yet for forgetting to make tea last year."

 

They both crawled out of the small space. "But why can't you cook every night? You're great at cooking. All I can do is beans on toast."

 

Harry smiled to himself. "Because when you live alone, you need to know how to use an oven." He smiled at Louis. "Plus, you make great beans on toast."

 

Louis, standing up, wiped the plaster off his jeans. "Really?"

 

Harry kissed his fingers, leaving a plaster taste on his lips, and waved them out. "Amazing. Best beans on toast I've ever tasted."

 

Louis picked up his phone off the floor, turning the torch off, and pocked it. He turned to look back at the hole in the wall, the ghostly mist seeping through the differing lights of the rooms. "We should cover it, just in case anyone else finds it."

 

"Who else is going to come up here?" Harry asked.

 

"Other last yearers who're playing hide and seek."

 

Harry laughed. "We are literally the only twenty-one year olds who play that game."

 

"You don't know," Louis groaned, pushing a crate to cover the hole, "we could have inspired some inner-children out there."

 

Harry rolled his eyes, helping push another box across the hole. They piled the rest on top until the only light in the room was Harry's phone, which lit up their way out of the room and down the stairs. The door wiggled open with ease, and after getting a few off looks from other students wondering why they were covered in plaster, the two of them ran back towards their dorm, a secret running wild in the front of their minds and a box hidden inside Harry's jacket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Question: What would you do if you discovered valuable furniture hidden away?**


	3. Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"There's someone in my room."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boo.

**Chapter Three: Night**

 

Harry fell backwards onto his bed. It sunk around him, soft, comforting, and he closed his eyes and sighed. What was he doing with his life.

 

He turned over as Louis walked into his room, shutting the door behind him. Louis laughed at the head towel wrapped around Harry's head, something that he should have been used to by now, and lay down on the edge of the bed next to Harry. They both lay with their hands on their stomachs, draped in fluffy dressing gowns, staring at the ceiling.

 

"What do you reckon's in it?" Louis quietly asked. They hadn't talked about their discovery since leaving the attic, and the silence that had broken seemed to crack the ceiling above them.

 

Harry hummed. "The box or that chest?"

 

Louis was confused for a second before shaking his head. "No, the box. We'll look at the chest tomorrow."

 

"But I'm in work tomorrow," Harry protested with a pout, turning to look at Louis.

 

"Which one? The one that pays you money, or the one where you get to talk to old ladies about china kittens?"

 

Harry smiled at Louis' smirk. "The one with the old ladies."

 

Louis rolled his eyes. "Ah, yes. The charity shop." He was silent a second before huffing a chuckle. "Isn't Maureen's husband an auctioneer?"

 

Harry thought. "Yeah, I think so."

 

"He could probably get us a good deal on those chairs, and whatever else is up there."

 

"Are we really selling those?" Harry asked, turning onto his side to face Louis. The fold of his dressing gown fell down and he felt the draught brush against his dick, but he ignored it-- Louis was used to seeing him walking around the flat naked (so was Nick)-- and instead of moving, he just closed his eyes and smiled.

 

"Would you rather we keep them?" Louis asked, turned on his side as well. "I don't think they'll fit in the kitchen. Plus, Nick's a modernist; it wouldn't suit his style."

 

Harry chuckled. "Are we gonna tell Nick about them?"

 

"Nope."

 

"What about the others?"

 

Louis laughed. "Nope."

 

Harry opened one eye to look at Louis' smirk. "They're gonna notice if suddenly Levi's are clutching are butts."

 

Louis laughed. "Yeah, Levi's jeans is a bit better than Matalan's. Ha." Louis closed his eyes and breathed in. "God, the things we could buy."

 

"We could go on holiday," Harry said.

 

"We could buy a jet," Louis smirked.

 

"We could get a flat together," Harry smiled.

 

"A flat?" Louis opened his eyes.

 

"Yeah, in London."

 

Louis shook his head, leaning up on his arms. "Come on, Harold. Be a bit more classy. We could get a mansion."

 

"Together?" Harry asked.

 

"Each." Harry sighed. Louis pulled a face. "What, you wanted to live with me?"

 

"Well," Harry said, turning over to lie on his back, "you'd get lonely in a big house by yourself."

 

"Says who?" Louis protested, "I could get a girlfriend." Harry raised an eyebrow. "Screw that, I could have one hundred babes, all keeping me company in my big bedroom, if you know what I'm saying."

 

Harry groaned. "Shut up, Lou."

 

"What, you bet I can't?"

 

"No, I just..." Harry stopped himself. He coughed, covering his eyes with his arm.

 

Louis sat up. "What?"

 

Harry debated, but hey, he saw no harm. "I just thought you were more interested in..." He uncovered his eyes to look at Louis looking down. "... that."

 

Louis' eyes whipped away from Harry's dick. "You dick."

 

"My dick."

 

"Piss off, Styles." Louis wasn't really angry. He pulled the pillow from under Harry's head and pressed into into Harry's face. Harry laughed, pushing Louis back, pinning him down onto the bed. Louis gave up without much of a fight, more concerned about his dressing gown falling open. "Harry!"

 

"Consider this a rematch," Harry joked. The last fight was terrifying, but this; no, this was more fun.

 

"Piss off. We're not decent," Louis declared, crawling out from under Harry, standing up, to pull his gown closed again.

 

"You, not decent?" Harry sat on the end of the bed. "No," he mocked. "Lou, you literally skinny dipped in the high school swimming pool in the middle of lessons because Niall dared you to. Since when do you care about being naked?"

 

Louis leaned against the wall. "Not now, Harry." He looked at the clock that hung on Harry's wall. "Look, it's late--"

 

"And since when did you care about bed times?"

 

"-- and we both have work tomorrow." Louis staggered to the door, his fingers brushing the handle. "We'll have a rematch when I get my knife back."

 

Harry flopped backwards, exposing his dick again. "No, Lou. Leave the knife out of this."

 

"But it's the rules, Harry."

 

"I don't care." Harry sat up. "Wait, did you find Zayn?"

 

Louis banged his head against the wall. "No." He laughed hard. "I bet he's still hiding somewhere! Oh God," Louis doubled over in laughter. "He's gonna hate me so much!"

 

They both laughed, enjoying the moment. Moments like this happened between the two quite ofter. It was a weird thing they had. Neither cared much about the other, about how naked each other were, or how they snorted like pigs when they laughed. They just cared about the moment, laughing, smiling, enjoying life. And when the couple on the floor below them suddenly screamed, moaned in pleasure, the two friends silenced, jaws dropped at each other, before laughing even harder.

 

Louis wiped away a tear. "Well, beddy-bye!"

 

Harry smiled. "Okay, night Lou."

 

Louis slid out of the door, closing it slowly, eyes peeping through, watching Harry with a kind smile until the door was closed. Harry smiled at his roof, closing his eyes again, lying there a few moments before turning off the light and crawling under his duvet.

 

It was a couple hours into the night when he woke up. At first, he thought there was an intruder, the door opening quickly, shutting behind with a bang, but then he realised that only Louis was that ungraceful. The covered lifted up, and Louis buried himself next to him. "Harry!"

 

"What, Lou?"

 

Louis pressed himself into Harry's side, ignoring Harry's starkness and his almost nudity as he shivered. "There's something in my room."

 

Harry rolled his eyes under his eyelids and tried to relax back to sleep. "Was it a spider?"

 

"No," Louis' hand came up to grasp Harry's face, turning it to make sure he was awake, "It was somebody."

 

"'s probably Nick," Harry mumbled, (because Nick sometimes sleptwalked) trying to turn away to go back to sleep. Louis stopped him, pulling him back.

 

"It was too short to be Nick."

 

"Probably just a shadow, or something," Harry mumbled.

 

"Yes, it was something!" Louis traced his hands quickly down and seized Harry's hand. "Please come check."

 

Harry groaned. "Lou, it's nothing. Go to sleep."

 

"No," Louis sat up, tugging hard at Harry's hand, "Please, just to be sure."

 

"Lou, I'm naked."

 

"Yes, perfect. You'll scare them away."

 

Harry turned to look groggily at Louis. "If I go check, will you promise to go to sleep?" Louis nodded. Reluctantly, Harry let go of Louis hand and rolled out of bed. He gazed at his dressing gown that was lying at the side of his bed, but Louis tugged his wrist towards the door before he could put it on. Out in the hallway, Harry felt the breeze, a cold chill that he didn't expect would come this early in the year. The darkened corridor between Harry and Louis' room ended in shadows, no lights shining, except the orange glow of a street lamp reflecting on the bin down in the kitchen.

 

Louis pushed Harry towards his bedroom door. "Go check."

 

Harry huffed, his eyes bagging, wanting sleep, but he reached out and pushed the door open anyway. Another chill hit him, the hairs on his body standing on end, and through the darkness Harry could make out a shape, a silhouette amongst the shadows. He reached in, hand running on the wall and flicked the light switch. Louis, behind him, gasped.

 

"It's your dressing gown," Harry said, pointer to where Louis' gown had been thrown across the room, hooking the open door of his wardrobe.

 

Louis pressed himself against Harry's back, scanning the room with his eyes. "No, there was someone in here."

 

"Just your gown, Lou."

 

Louis gaped, spluttering words, jabbing his finger in the air towards the gown. "It was right here."

 

Nick appeared by the door. "Guys, I'm tying to sleep."

 

Louis waved his arms around. "There was someone in my room."

 

Nick looked at naked Harry. "Well, congratulations. Be quiet." Harry took the innuendo as a joke and pulled Lou away from the door to let Nick get back to his own room.

 

"Lou, calm down."

 

"There was someone in my room!"

 

Harry guessed Louis wouldn't stop, and he was too tired for this. It had been a long day, and honestly, he needed sleep. He took Louis' hand and pulled him guidingly out of his room, switching off the light and closing the door before pulling him into his own room. Closing the door, he led Louis to his own bed and pulled him under the covers. "Sleep."

 

"But--"

 

"No, Lou. Sleep."

 

Louis didn't protest after that. Harry was right; it was just his dressing gown in the dark. The frantic game of the day had been messing with Louis' mind; that's all. Harry felt Louis give up, his shoulders relaxing with a puff of breath, and Louis folded himself into the curve of Harry's back. Harry reached behind and pulled Louis' hands around his waist. It's something they'd both done since they were young, innocent sleepovers, terrified by ghost stories, comforted by each other's heartbeats. Harry felt Louis nuzzle into his hair.

 

"Haz."

 

"Lou."

 

"Thanks."

 

Harry sighed. "Anything for you, Lou."

 

And he meant it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Question: Do you want more Nick? I don't know whether to write more scenes where Harry, Louis and Nick are all talking in their dorms or whether I should just leave Nick as a comic relief character who pops in at the wrong times. Also, Larry: yes or no?**


	4. Woe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Niall at the charity shop :3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is slightly confusing. I haven't established that Harry had a Fri & Mon job at Matalan and had a Sat job at a charity shop, so during the Summer he spent Fri-Mon in his dorm and Tue-Thu at home. Without this knowledge, the overall timing doesn't make sense, sorry! Should have added it in somewhere...
> 
> Also, I deal with Depression in this chapter, as well as future chapters, so if you would like to have a say on this topic, or have any personal experiences you'd like to share as to further realistic-ise this story, then feel free to leave a comment. I've based Niall's depression off what I've researched and my own phase of depression (that seems to be going on-and-off... I really should go see someone about that...) Anyway, if you are somewhat offended, then tell me while and I'll try and change it, but please remember that everyone's Depression is different, so just bare that in mind. And sorry to put this burden on Niall; I wanted to have a depressed character to try and get out some of my own feelings towards this 'thing'. (It's a weird thing to describe. Like, emotionless ghost, or something...)
> 
> Anyway, enjoy! :)

**Chapter Four: Woe**

 

It was a quiet day. About thirty sets of clocks were echoing in the shell of the building while the radio in the back room fuzzled its way through Bonnie Tyler. Harry laid his head on the counter, staring at the pile of unsorted knitting needles he was tasked with pairing up. He sighed. Every Saturday, minus the first Saturday of the month, there was a market in the street outside, and the attention brought many customers into the charity shop. But today; today was painfully dead.

 

Harry thought about closing his eyes, too tired from last nights shenanigans. The bell rung. His head shot up, expecting to see an old lady, or a vinyl collection, or someone who he at least had to appear to be a normal sales assistant to, but instead there stood Niall.

 

"Hey," Harry called over the darleks of clothes.

 

Niall looked at him, a sort of acknowledgement in his face, yet lacked anything else. He weaved through the clothes slowly, slumping around each turn, his eyes squinting as if all the bright, rejected 80s clothes that surrounded him were blinding him, and stopped on the other side of the counter. He didn't say anything, just sighed.

 

Harry stood up off his stool in concern. "You okay?"

 

Niall shrugged. "Ellie's with Jade," he mumbled. Harry looked out the window at the front of the shop at the Costa across the road, and yes, Ellie and Jade were sipping iced frappes, laughing, gossipping about this, that and the other, shopping bags around their ankles. Niall closed his eyes and groaned. "Don't wanna..." He didn't say what he didn't want to do, whether it be with the girls, or socialise, or be out of bed, but Harry got the general idea.

 

"You wanna cuppa?" Harry nodded towards the back room. "Jan'll look after the till. I'll make ya one, hum?" Niall didn't answer, only walked around to the other side of the till and into the back room.

 

Jan and Barry greeted Niall as usual-- they were use to seeing Niall appear for a cuppa during the Summer-- and Harry gave them an apologetic smile after Niall didn't respond. He followed Niall into the small staff kitchen at the very back of the shop.

 

"How many sugars today?" Harry asked, pulling a _Muppets_ and a _'Keep Calm and Shoot Zombies'_ mug off the shelf as Niall perched himself on the small stool by the sink. Niall shrugged with a grunt. "I'll take that as three, then."

 

As Harry made the tea, he felt sick. It might have been due to hunger-- it was half twelve and he hadn't had his lunch break yet-- or it might have been the disappointment of seeing Niall fall down again. He'd watched Niall fall down and try to stumble back up all Summer long, and he had thought that now he was smiling again that he was okay. Apparently not.

 

"Did anything happen?" he asked, spooning the sugars into the mugs. Niall grunted again, as if the question was stupid, which yes, Harry admitted it was stupid, but he needed to know these things. "You and Ellie fall out?"

 

"No, we're fine."

 

"Did Jade say anything?"

 

Niall roared, a frustrated scream, and Harry turned around to find him glaring at him wide-eyed, glowing red, his hands in the air, clawed, teeth gritted. "I said I'm fine, Harry!"

 

Harry had heard that many times over Summer. He knew it's because Niall felt like a burden. Niall had admitted that himself, while skinny dipping in Harry's swimming pool during a sleepover. Harry had felt like he needed to be drunk for that conversation, but he was sure alcohol was the worst thing for either of them back then. Niall had been through a lot, yet externally his life was normal. Harry just thanked God that Ellie was such an understanding girlfriend and took care of him when Harry wasn't around, and for not leaving him whenever Niall lashed out at her. Now that he thought about it, he should have gone across to Costa and bought the two girls another drink each, just to say thanks.

 

Finishing off making the tea, Harry handed Niall his mug. Niall sipped it straight away, not reacting to the scalding water, and Harry sighed. He really was quite numb.

 

"So, are you gonna stick around here and help me out?" he offered. Niall had done that during the Summer.

 

Niall sipped his tea again, bringing his feet up off the floor to rest of the stools footrest. "What?"

 

Niall's ability to make full sentences ceased to exist during dark times, so Harry took a stab in the dark. "I need help finding all of the out-of-date DVDs on the shop floor that need replacing." Niall squinted in confusion. "If we can't sell them after two weeks, we send them to another shop, and we get theirs. We're a business like any other, you know."

 

Harry left the kitchen, Niall following in pursuit, holding his mug to his chest, shoulders hunched, ignorant of the other volunteers around him yet content with his position. They stood in the doorway of the backroom, looking out at the shop floor (since drinks weren't permitted in the shop.) "Finish your drink, then we can get to work, okay?"

 

They sipped their drinks while watching the non-existing activity of the shop floor. Harry could imagine the tumbleweeds crawling across the floor, if there were any room for tumbleweeds through the mass of rails that littered the floor space. They'd had to be blown along the ceiling, Harry thought, as he looked around and realised that there was no space on the walls either, all piled high with shelves of bric-a-brac and paintings, but then he realised that this thought was going too far, and as amusing at it was, a dead ball of plants running across the ceiling, he felt it would only ever make sense in his brain. He often did that; but there again, he lived with Louis, the Master of Insanity.

 

They left half of their tea to be drank later on the jewellery shelf by the door before heading over to the DVD shelf. They helped each other out, checking the dates on the charity barcode sticker and piling the old ones into a box, and Harry felt that doing it this way, helping each other, worked out better for the both of them, as he didn't want Niall to think that he was giving him all the work, nor did he want Niall to feel useless. There was a fine balance between helping someone and outright offending them, which was very tricky with Niall at times.

 

They finished the DVD shelf, and after Niall had sighed a happy sigh at his achievement, Harry decided that, even thought he did them last week and knew there wouldn't be many coming off anyway, to do the CD shelf while they were at it. Halfway through, Niall spoke, "Delta Goodrem." He held up the _'Mistaken Identity'_ album to show Harry.

 

"Yeah, she's good," Harry replied. "Australian, I think."

 

"I like this album," Niall mumbled, flipping it over to read the track list. He mumbled to himself as he read. " _Extraordinary Day_."

 

Harry mused, watching Niall has he stared at the song title. "You like that song?"

 

Niall sniffed. "I feel like that song."

 

Harry had heard that song before. Gemma had went through a Piano Pop phase where she listen to many of Delta Goodrem's songs. "It one of the songs she wrote about her cancer, isn't it?"

 

Niall hummed, and at first Harry thought he was saying yes, but it turned out to be a melody. He stopped after a line. "I feel like my butterfly has flown away."

 

Harry quietly sighed, stepping towards Niall to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. "She sang another song about butterflies, you know." Harry swallowed. "You gotta let your butterflies go sometimes to really see how beautiful they are, but they'll always come back."

 

Niall flinched his shoulder, letting Harry's hand slide down. "I don't wanna be down here."

 

"I know you don't, sweetheart." Harry pulled Niall towards him, guiding him into his arms. Niall tucked his chin over Harry's shoulder, standing on his tip toes to squeeze himself in to the hug. Harry held him tight, the two of them past the point of acting _"no-homo, bro"_ with each other, just relying on each other to keep themselves locked in reality and not let their wild fantasies run wild. "Niall," he whispered into Niall's shoulder, "whatever happens, I'll be here, okay? Don't you go worrying about anything else. If you need me, I'm here. Even if you don't need me, I'm still here, okay? You don't need a butterfly; you're beautiful enough."

 

Niall was crying, his breath hitching, and he squeezed Harry more. "I'm not."

 

"Yes you are," Harry insisted.

 

Ellie walked in, Jade waiting outside. She must have spotted the hug and realised something was up. She walked over, her heartache all over her face, and she rubbed Niall's back. "Baby, you okay?" Niall pulled away from Harry, wiping his face with his hand while nodding. He always tried to look strong in front of Ellie, the stupid stereotype of _"men are strong"_ still making him caution to let anyone know of his mental state, but Ellie ignore the act and took his face in both of her hands. "Babe, let's get you home, yeah?"

 

Niall nodded.

 

Ellie smiled at him, leaning close to gently press her forehead against Niall' jawline; her way of kissing him when he didn't want his personal bubble popping. She leaned back, giving Harry a quick smile and a whispered _"thank you"_ before gently leading Niall outside to head home.

 

Harry looked around the shop. It was dead again. Despite having no emotions, Niall had brightened up the place so much, but now that he was gone, all of those blinding, bright rainbows of clothes had faded to a dull off-grey, and even those annoying clock batteries ceased to be alive. It felt to dead without him, and he wished Niall knew how much life he had in him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Question: Do you like chapters like this where it veers off-story, because believe it or not, this chapter means NOTHING to the overall story! It's just there as a subtext of the expanded universe of this fic. So, would you guys rather me stick with the main story (and the entire fic be shorter) or do a random-yet-relevant chapter (and make the fic longer)? Tell me below :)**
> 
> Also, since I touched on Depression, I'll leave you with some links to places you can get help. (Bit hypocritical, since my friends keeps telling me to see someone about my depressive-phases that keep coming and going, but hey, if I can help someone over my own sanity, so be it!)
> 
> [Mind.org.uk: Depression Help](http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/depression/self-help-treatment-and-support/#.Vp6VUfmLTC0)


	5. Omen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the good stuff (kind of)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now it's started to sound like a fanfic! XD

**Chapter Five: Omen**

 

It was when Harry returned home and entered his room that he realised something was wrong.

 

"Lou," he said, popping his head into the kitchen, "were you looking for something in my room?"

 

Louis looked up from his game of Cards Against Humanity with Zayn, Liam and Nick. "No. Why?"

 

Harry gauged Nick's reactions as well and assumed he hadn't been in there either. "Well, my duvets on the floor, my clothes are all over my room and my shower had been left on and had flooded my en suit." He watched the group for a second, a silence hanging over them, before Louis burst out laughing. "So you did go in there!"

 

"I didn't!" Louis protested as Harry stormed over, pushing Louis off the sofa onto the group before pinning his arms above his head. Louis was laughing too much to fight back.

 

"I _didn't do_ anything, Haz!" he laughed.

 

"So why are you laughing?" The boys behind them were laughing as well, probably because of the compromising position they were in, but really, they should be use to it by now.

 

Louis calmed down enough to talk, "Because, you're the last person anyone would expect to have a messy room." Louis sat up under Harry. "Isn't your Mum coming over tomorrow?"

 

Harry's eyes widened. " _Shit_!" He jumped up and ran back to his room. "You're a piece of shit, Louis! This is _too_ far!"

 

Harry cleaned his room, Liam and Zayn helping him out since Harry was refusing to look at Louis at the moment and Nick had to go to bed early to be up for the radio show. They got the room cleaned, and the en suit was mopped up to the best of their ability, and the three of them collapsed onto Harry's bed in unison.

 

"Do you think Louis really did this?" Liam asked.

 

Zayn chuckled, "Wouldn't put it past him."

 

"It's probably because he and I are supposed to have a rematch," Harry mumbled.

 

Liam asked, "What?"

 

"We had a play fight while playing hide and seek yesterday and it ended in a draw." Harry wondered whether he should tell the boys about their discovery, but even though he was pissed at Louis, he thought it'd be better if he discussed it with him first.

 

"Oh yeah, talking about that, you guys left me!" Zayn said, turning to playfully glare at Harry. "I stayed in that cupboard until _midnight_."

 

"You only had to stay there until ten," Liam said.

 

Zayn huffed, "Yeah, but I didn't want Louis to cut me anyway. Thought I should play it safe."

 

They laughed. They got up and went into the kitchen, the only sort of socialising room in Harry's dorm, and started watching reruns of Spongebob on the small TV set in one of the kitchen cupboards. Louis walked in after the first episode.

 

"I'm still mad at you," Harry said while dramatically glaring at Louis. He was pissed with him, but he liked Louis too much to be too pissed.

 

Louis scoffed, his drama degree showing, and flamboyantly placed his hand to his heart. " _Me_? Harold, you know I wouldn't stoop down that low." He look a seat next to Liam.

 

Liam nudged Louis slightly while lifting up his long sleeves. "Oh, _really_?" he said, pointing to the paper-cut sized mark on his forearm.

 

Louis shrugged. "Rules are rules."

 

Harry sighed. There was no use in being mad at Louis. "But seriously Lou, don't do that again. I'll probably have to pay for new floorboards in the bathroom, or something."

 

Louis looked confused at Harry. "I _didn't do_ anything, Harry."

 

Harry watched Louis face. Louis may like to pull people's legs, but you could usually tell when he was messing with you. He'd have this spark in his eye, a glitter of menace, but looking at him now, Harry saw a fire, a rage of sorts, something he was trying to control but he knew would eventually over-blaze. "Serious?"

 

Louis nodded. "Seriously. I don't know what happened. I was out all day. Only got back an hour before you did."

 

Harry glared watchingly, but then shook his head. "Well, however it happened, I don't want it happening again, okay?"

 

Liam looked at Harry. "Could it have been a burglar?"

 

Harry panicked a moment, because yes, the thought hadn't come to mind, but then he relaxed. "The shower was on. No burglar would turn the shower on. Plus, my laptop is still there, and my TV."

 

" _Weird_ ," Zayn mumbled.

 

They ordered take away and cracked open a few bottles, something that they'd normally do with Niall, but Harry thought it was best to leave Niall with Ellie, as her update texts seem to suggest that he was content with Ben and Jerry's and Netflix. They ate, chatted, banter, got told off by Nick a couple of times before Zayn and Liam had to leave. They said goodbye and Harry and Louis were left alone.

 

Harry let the silence hang in the air, an invite for Louis to start a conversation, before he took that control. "You not shitting me when you say it wasn't you?"

 

Louis huffed, actual annoyance on his face. "Harry, I _didn't_ mess your room up."

 

Harry put his hands up in defence. "Okay, _fine_." He breathed in slowly before changing topics. "They're talking about having a Winter Ball."

 

Louis nodded. "Yeah. The girls my class were talking about it. They said it'd be like Harry Potter, or something like that."

 

Harry smiled. "You read Harry Potter?"

 

"Of course," Louis smirked, "Be an idiot not to."

 

"So, you going to the Winter Ball?"

 

Louis thought for a second. "The girls said that you have to have a date."

 

" _Bullshit_ ," Harry said with a smirk. "The school wouldn't be that _unaphobia_."

 

"What?" Louis asked.

 

"I don't know; I got it from a _Crabstickz_ video." Louis squinted at Harry-- obviously wasn't on the cool side of YouTube-- but let Harry continue anyway, "They'd let singles in."

 

Louis pouted, "One of the girls said that couples only pay for one ticket."

 

"Do one of those girls work of the Student Committee?" Harry asked.

 

Louis shook his head, "I don't think so."

 

" _Exactly_! Don't worry; if you don't find anyone, then no problem." Harry chuckled. "If they did put that _ridiculous_ rule, then I guess we could go together."

 

"Really?"

 

"Yeah, I need to save my money, since the uni's gonna take all of mine to replace the en suit's floorboards!"

 

Louis groaned and hit his head against the table. "For the last time, Harry, I _didn't_ mess up your room! Plus, your en suit has tiles; I bet the water didn't even get through them."

 

Harry chuckled and nudged Louis with his knee. "Dude, chill. I'm only joking."

 

There was another silence overhung, and Harry blew around the rim of his bottle to fill the void. Louis laughed, "Yeah, I bet you like blowing holes, don't you."

 

Harry spluttered. " _Shut up_ , Lou."

 

Louis laughed hard. "Bet you wanna wrap your lips around something bigger, _eh_?"

 

"Lou," Harry blushed, "stop being weird."

 

Louis laughed, but lent across to pat Harry's shoulder, sarcastically saying, "Dear Harold, even if you did like cock, I'd still love you."

 

Harry stopped a moment, debating, but he went for it anyway. "So what if I do?"

 

Louis' smile faulted a second, his hand still laying on Harry's shoulder, but then he laughed, a small gaspy chuckle, before contracting his hand to lift his bottle to his mouth. He sipped, swallowed, but then gave Harry a smile. "I don't care." He let the silence return a moment. "I don't care about _your_ private sex life. Not mine to care about. So yeah, nothing will change."

 

Harry smiled slightly. Well, it was better than full rejection, he guessed. It was a harsh blow, probably not intended, but hey, life wasn't the movies.

 

Louis cleared his throat, "So, what are you: gay, bi, _etcetera_?"

 

Harry coughed. "Er, pan."

 

Louis smirked, "Ah, so you _don't_ actually like dick."

 

"What?"

 

Louis said, "Yeah, this girl in my class said that pansexuals don't like sexy bits."

 

Harry stared at Louis a moment before laughing. " _Sexy bits_?" They both laughed. "Seriously, Lou, the girls in your class are really weird."

 

Louis laughed, "Yeah, I guess they're the ones who put me off girls altogether."

 

Harry stopped laughing a moment, but then smiled at Louis. "You serious?"

 

Louis raised an eyebrow at Harry, "Are _you_ serious?"

 

"Yeah."

 

"Yeah, too."

 

They stared at each other for a few seconds before both reaching for their drinks to take a hasty gulp. Louis sighed as he put his bottle back down. "Well, we're uni students."

 

Harry sniggered, "Yeah. And we're part of the _Equal Generation_."

 

Louis chuckled. "Well, we should have expected at least _one_ of us to not be straight. But _two_?"

 

"Maybe more," Harry posed. "I mean, Zayn and Liam..."

 

Louis groaned, waving his hands away. "Dude, not my ship."

 

Harry pulled a surprised face at Louis. "Ship?"

 

"Yeah, as in relation _ship_. The girls in my clas--"

 

"Yeah, I get shipping. Just surprised that you knew." Harry smirked. "For someone who doesn't like girls, you sure do talk about them a lot!"

 

"Hey!" Louis said, gently punching Harry in the arm, "There's only two boys on the course, and Daniel doesn't like me."

 

"Why not?"

 

Louis smirked, "Probably because his gaydar is more fine-tuned than yours. Stupid homophobe."

 

Harry smacked Louis arm, but they both laughed. It was weird, being this open and honest, but at the same time, the distance between the two of them, the stool-width of air that lay silently between, it echoed an untimely realisation, one of which Harry could quite describe, and as he and Louis sat there, talking, laughing, joking about each other, Harry felt insecure, a sense of hopelessness, judgement, like burning eyes tearing through his soul, and he kept his eyes fixed on Louis, desperate to keep ahold of human life, trying not to slip into another realm, and as they parted for bed, Harry realised that this thought was irrational, was just paranoia, and maybe he should stop thinking about the same thing for too long and just end it all with a full stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Question: What should be the other guys' sexualities? Harry is Pan, Louis is either Gay or Bi (not pan, because I feel like he would have said so when Harry said he was pan, so not pan...) But what about the others? Nick is obviously gay (and in a relationship with someone, but is not going to be mentioned in the fic) and Ellie is straight/bi (dating Niall).**


	6. Normality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Normal days...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this chapter is a bit more relaxed. Sorry, my brain is frazzled today! Better chapter next; promise!!!

**Chapter Six: Normality**

 

Anne came around just before noon, a bit earlier than Harry anticipated, but she claimed there was good traffic on the motorways. Harry showed his Mum to the kitchen, despite the fact that she was use to visiting him there for the past three years, Harry was still that type of person who treated his Mum as a privilege guest rather than his mother.

 

Louis stumbled into the kitchen half an hour later, still only wearing his underwear he wore to sleep, rubbing his eyes with a yawn. " _God_ , Haz, I'll _never_ forgive you for getting me _that_ drunk." He noticed Anne and blushed. "Oh, hi Anne."

 

Anne chuckled. "Pleasure to see you again, Louis," and Harry had to cringe at the innuendo that spouted in his mind. Louis blushed again and hurried out of the room to get dressed. Anne laughed and turned to Harry. "He's quite the charmer, isn't he?"

 

Harry didn't answer, instead shaking his head with a sigh and getting up to make everyone a cuppa. Nick would be back home soon anyway.

 

Louis appeared again another half an hour later after showering and getting dressed into more suitable attire. Harry mentally thanked Louis for picking skinny jeans and a relatively smart shirt rather than the joggers and a hoodie that he knew Louis really wanted to spend his Sunday wearing. As Nick walked through the door as well, Harry reboiled the kettle and finished off the teas and handed the mugs to everyone.

 

"So, how's Gem?" Harry asked his Mum.

 

Anne sighed. "She's okay. She's got another boyfriend--" Harry internally groaned "-- a young lad from London."

 

"Is he nice?" Harry dared to ask.

 

Anne scoffed. "I haven't met him yet."

 

Gemma had picked up a habit of dating _'bad boys'_ , gangsta, probably drug dealers; those sort of men. Harry worried about her, worried she was going to fall into those circles and not be able to escape, but he thought to what his Mum said, _"a young lad,"_ so maybe there was hope. Either that or he'd have to introduce her to Zayn. (He internally laughed at that thought.)

 

Anne sipped her tea. "He's not shirtless in his Facebook profile picture, so I guess that's a good start."

 

Harry gave a grave chuckle. "Hopefully."

 

"Where about in London are they?" Nick chipped in, since he was moving to London in the Summer, and he and Anne started their own conversation away from the other two.

 

Louis nudged Harry's leg. "You gonna tell her?" he whispered.

 

Harry pouted. "Tell her what?"

 

"You know," Louis nodded to the stools where they were sat the night before, "what you said last night."

 

Harry laughed, "You _actually_ remember that?"

 

Louis reached over and gave Harry a small shove. "I wasn't _that_ drunk."

 

"You're _weak_. Seriously, you were hungover this morning."

 

"I wasn't," Louis confessed, "Just wanted you to pity me and make me a full breakfast. Speaking of which..." Louis got up from his chair, walking over to open the kitchen cupboards. "What's for lunch?"

 

"Actually," Harry said, speaking louder to re-include Anne and Nick, "we were planning on going out for lunch."

 

Louis smiled, "Oh, can I come?"

 

Harry coughed as Anne laughed, "Well, I guess."

 

Anne smiled, "You two really are inseparable, aren't you?"

 

Louis grinned at Anne, "We should have been twins."

 

They went to a small cafe in town, one that Harry had been to a few times before, but never with Anne. It was the same restaurant that Tyler, a friend he made when he was in first year, worked at before Tyler graduated last year. Tyler was actually the guy that let Harry accept LGBT+ in the real world. It was a weird thing, knowing and understanding something on the internet, yet it not existing within your personal life. Talking to Tyler make Harry feel 100X more confident about being Pan (and more confident at kissing.)

 

They sat down in the corner, and Louis instantly took the menu and frowned. "There's no chicken."

 

"Of course," Harry smirked, "it's all vegan."

 

Louis froze, dropping the menu out of his hands onto his lap. " _Eww_."

 

Harry and Anne laughed.

 

"So, you're gonna make me eat grass?" Louis joked.

 

They order, Louis actually finding something that sounded remotely nice (only because it said chickpeas, which was somewhat like chicken in his mind.) Their food arrived, Louis chatted to the waiter about recycling, or _something_ \-- Harry wasn't focusing, because his phone vibrated in his pocket. It was Niall:

 

From Niall: _' Can I come over ? '_

 

Harry sighed.

 

From Harry: _'I'm out for lunch. I'll be back in an hour. You can come over then.'_

 

Harry smiled at his Mum. "Niall's coming over when we get back."

 

Anne frowned. "Is he okay?" She'd seen a lot of Niall over the Summer.

 

"I think so," Harry took a fork-full of vegan pasta and ate it, "Bit up and down at the moment."

 

Anne put down her cutlery, and with a pitiful smile, placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry, you've done so much for Niall. You truly are such an amazing friend to him. You need to treat yourself."

 

Harry shrugged with a chuckled laugh, "I don't. He's my friend and I need to help him. It's a given; friends always help each other out." He turned to look at Louis, who was currently exchanging phone numbers with the waiter. "Isn't that right, Lou?"

 

Louis waved his hand over the table nonchalantly. "Yeah, whatever."

 

Harry sighed as Anne laughed. "As per example."

 

Anne chuckled. "You have wonderful friends as well, Harry."

 

"Yeah, _wonderful_ friends who play _horrible_ pranks," Harry mumbled.

 

Louis, who had just waved (and winked) goodbye to the waiter, heard, and glared at Harry. "Hey, I told you it wasn't me who messed up your room."

 

Harry smirked at him. "I'll believe you when you can prove it wasn't you."

 

Louis suddenly slouched forward, hooding his eyes with a terrified smirk. "Maybe it was the man in my room."

 

Anne blushed at the out-of-context. Harry sniggered. "Lou, there wasn't anyone there."

 

" _There was!_ I'm not crazy," Louis shouted, and for the record, he turned around to the waiter, who was back at the till, and shouted, "I'm _not_ crazy; _promise_!"

 

Harry laughed. "Whatever Lou."

 

Harry's phone vibrated again.

 

From Niall: _' Waiting . Please come home . '_

 

And with that, they left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Question: How are you liking the fic so far?**

**Author's Note:**

>  **QUESTION: Do you like the story so far?** I'm worried to I'm too descriptive at times. I'll change anything if you don't understand it!
> 
> (The next chapters will have proper, plot-changing questions, I promise!)


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